Food
Cheese
Introduction
Our tasting of 27 cheeses - including bries, aged cheddars and creamy blues - found many failed to impress.
Cheese prices have softened this year after reaching record highs in 2008. But this staple of the Kiwi diet remains something of a luxury. If you’re splashing out for cheese, you want to know you’re getting quality. You may be disappointed to hear many cheeses in our tasting were decidedly average.
We also look at the fat and sodium content of many common cheeses, and answer some common questions.
About our tasting
Our expert panel tasted 11 bries, 7 aged cheddars and 9 creamy blue cheeses to find the best. We bought the cheeses from supermarkets, selecting brands which are widely available.
Our panel
Thanks to our panel members:
- Jane Ritchie: a tour guide with Wellington company Zest Food Tours. Jane also worked with Alison Holst for many years testing recipes.
- Martin Russek: a chef at the Wellington Institute of Technology and a New Zealand culinary judge.
- Neil Willman: a cheese expert who teaches cheesemaking here and in Australia. Neil is a tutor at the New Zealand Cheese School and is also the master judge of the Cuisine Champion of Cheese awards.
Cheesy questions
Why is tasty cheddar tasty and mild cheddar mild?
The main reason for the difference in flavour is age. The longer the cheese has been ripened and stored, the tastier it becomes. Mild cheeses are matured for three to four months, tasty cheeses for nine to 12 months, and vintage or matured cheeses one to three years.
Gruyere cheese
How do the holes get into gruyere?
A bacterial culture that produces gas is added to the milk in the manufacture of these cheeses. The cheeses are stored in a warm temperature during ripening. As the bacteria grow, bubbles of gas, usually carbon dioxide, form in the curd.
What is vegetarian cheese?
Many cheese-making processes use rennet taken from calf stomachs. Veggie cheeses use rennet from fungal, bacterial or artificial sources. Otherwise, they are much the same as regular cheeses - they're not lower in fat as some people believe.
What makes blue cheese blue?
Mould spores added to the milk are responsible for the flavour, texture, and colour of blue cheeses. These moulds need to "breathe", so the cheese is pierced with wires to let oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. The moulds form along the veins of the pierce holes.
Different strains of mould spores, different ways of treating the curd, storage temperatures and salt content all produce different blue cheeses.
Why is mozzarella so stretchy and parmesan so crumbly?
When cheeses are young, their protein structure is largely intact, which makes them smooth and elastic. Mozzarella is a very young cheese. Parmesan, on the other hand is old. Its proteins have broken down, so the cheese crumbles readily. Mozzarella is made even more stretchy by a process of heating, stretching and kneading.
Is processed cheese really cheese?
Processed cheese is a range of natural cheeses that have been ground up, heated and melted together. An emulsifier has been added to keep it smooth and soft, and flavours and colours may have been added.
The heating kills the microbiological culture so the cheese no longer matures and the product maintains a consistent flavour and texture. Some processed cheeses are made with reduced fat.
What is the white stuff on the outside of brie and camembert?
It's a penicillium mould called a bloom, which has either been added to the milk or sprayed onto the moulded cheese. The bloom is quite safe to eat and adds to the flavour of the cheese. If you store a cut cheese, the bloom sometimes grows over the cut surface. This may help to keep the cheese fresh.
How can I tell when a brie or camembert is ready?
If you can't tell by the squeeze or look, check the use-by date. If it's still weeks away, the cheese is unlikely to have a soft, flowing centre. Though the storage temperature will have some influence, generally these cheeses are ready to eat four or five weeks after packing.
Can I speed up the softening of these cheeses?
Camembert and brie ripen from the outside to the inside. The bloom produces enzymes which change the structure of the protein and transform it to a sticky paste. Keep unripe cheeses at room temperature if you want to eat them soon. Refrigeration will slow the ripening.
Soft cheeses have the best flavour and texture if they are served at room temperature. Take the cheese out of the fridge at least two hours before you serve it. In an emergency, you can give it a ten second zap in the microwave, but be careful - too long in the heat and the fat and curd are likely to separate and the cheese will lose its creaminess. However, you can't use a microwave to ripen an unripe cheese.
What cheeses should I avoid if I'm pregnant?
Pasteurisation of the milk and good cheese-making practices mean New Zealand cheeses rarely contain disease-causing bacteria. But it's wise for pregnant women to avoid soft cheeses, like camembert, brie and blue, which may contain listeria bacteria if they have not been handled carefully.